Tuesday July 27th @ Chop Suey
Decibel Festival/Dreaming in Stereo proudly presents:
Ghostly International
Art and Artifice 2004AD Tour
Featuring:
Matthew Dear (live pa)
Dabrye (live pa)
Midwest Product (full band)
Lusine (live pa)
SV4 (dj set)
Live visuals provided by Ghostly.
Doors open @ 9pm
Presale tix are available at Rudy's Barbershop, Sonic Boom and online @
www.fastixx.com
quoted 2 lines The Stranger LOVES Ghostly :) Check out this weeks preview in the
>>>The Stranger LOVES Ghostly :) Check out this weeks preview in the
>>>Stranger.
-DATA BREAKER-
BEATSEEKING MISSIVES
GHOSTLY ART & ARTIFICE TOUR
Dave Segal
Operating just outside of techno's American birthplace, Ann Arbor,
Michigan's Ghostly International has become a label whose releases people
obsessively follow and collect. Marked by distinctive graphics and quirkily
cute ads and merchandise, Ghostly cut through the visual humdrum of
electronic music's status quo to stake out unique ground in its five-year
history. It's cause for celebration.
Though it only scratches the surface of the company's deep roster, the
Seattle bill of the Ghostly Art and Artifice tour exemplifies the label's
diversity and excellence. Lusine (Seattle's Jeff McIlwain) is a deft
manipulator of many modes (shape-shifting IDM, melodic techno, microfunk,
and pastel-shaded ambience), as his forthcoming Ghostly album, Serial
Hodgepodge, proves. Midwest Product's knowing melodic jouissance tips a Korg
toward New Order and peddles suburban electro-funk beats that eat Trans Am's
exhaust. Dabrye (versatile Tadd Mullinix) brings an orchestral sweep and
crisply lush tunefulness to the glitch-hop arena, giving Prefuse 73 a run
for his Akai MPC. Matthew Dear--creator of microhouse-pop classic Leave Luck
to Heaven and new gem Backstroke--is one of the few Americans challenging
the Germans and Canadians for experimental-techno supremacy, with
productions that rock dance floors and stoke libidos. Finally,
whippersnapper SV4 (Ghostly boss Sam Valenti IV) spins hiphop, disco,
techno, house, and IDM. We'll see if his deck skills match his business
acumen.
In Ghostly's five years, it's built a global fan base and garnered respect
from the world's top DJs. I asked Valenti to outline the key to the label's
success.
"I believe that there is a voice and an approach that the label embodies to
the way we do things that is understandable at both the physical and
psychological level," he says via e-mail. "I like to believe we are
consistent. I think we would be more successful if we were associated with
one scene or sound, but I wouldn't feel that excited about the label, 'cause
there isn't a superior genre for me."
Given that Ghostly is too eclectic to have a signature sound, does Valenti
see a unifying thread in every Ghostly release?
"It's that humanity, that melodic and personal feel. Nothing we do feels
alien, it is all on human scale. I like the idea of otherworldly things, but
the releases all have that vitality and are part of the human experience:
dancing, love, triumph, despair. Music about music is boring to me, and only
interesting in circles of diehards."
What strategies guide Ghostly now? Does Valenti see the label changing?
"The goal is to remain on the edge, furthering our relationship to the world
in a way that makes it feel even more indelible. I want to keep pulling
people into the Ghostly fabric and philosophy. Our fan base is not fixed;
one segment doesn't make or break us. It's the outliers and people you
wouldn't be able to pick out in a lineup that are our fans. I hope we keep
releasing accessible but earnest electronic-tinged music that helps to
elevate the art form of electronic music in this country." DAVE SEGAL
check out www.ghostlyinternational.com for free MP3 downloads and info
Sean Horton
Decibel Festival Director
8816 10th Ave SW
Seattle, WA
98106
www.dbfestival.com
sean@dbfestival.com
cell: 206.313.4627
_________________________________________________________________
Don?t just search. Find. Check out the new MSN Search!
http://search.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200636ave/direct/01/
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org
For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org